


through every twist and turn

by Moransroar



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Endgame, F/M, Sad Ending, Sad and Happy, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:35:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24510913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moransroar/pseuds/Moransroar
Summary: Hiring her was the best decision he ever made.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 10
Kudos: 28





	through every twist and turn

**Author's Note:**

> [Please listen to this song while you read this fic. Trust me.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDeNQNtW1f8)

Tony should have known, the very first time he laid eyes on her.

The second she walked into his office while he was doing personal interviews for the position of his PA, she had an air about her that he just couldn’t seem to forget. It stuck with him the rest of the day, while he went through many more interviews and meetings and the regular work shtick. None of the other interviewees made quite the impression that she did, and that didn’t have to do as much with her legs as he tried to convince himself.

Hiring her was the right decision.

From the outset, she proved that she had everything it took to handle him, and then some.

She settled into her new position like water seeping through the cracks in between the bricks with which Tony had built his empire, his company. She fit like a glove, got to work like she had never done anything else, and Tony got used to her so quickly that whenever she had a day off, he quickly found himself at a loss of what to do.

He was good at pretending like he didn’t need her as much as he did, though.

Afghanistan turned his life upside down in a very unpleasant way for a long time, but when he came back and she was still there, it felt a little bit less like all was lost.

They settled back into the old swing of things as best as they could, despite the admittedly quite drastic change in Tony’s life. Tony never once mentioned how much he thought about her, back in that cave. When he saw how well she was doing and how much she’d grown without him there, it felt redundant to bring it up. Why would he, when she seemed to have done so very well with him out of the picture?

Why would he, when he was stupid enough to forget about her when they’d danced and she’d looked so beautiful in that stunning blue dress?

He was lucky enough to still get her help, through everything. Even when the tidings got rough. When he got sick and passed on the Stark Industries baton, pushed her away, distanced himself by putting a third person between them. When he made a fool of both himself and her, and the only one who could stop it was Rhodey. When he nearly lost her through no fault but his own.

And then nearly lost her again.

And again.

And again.

God, he’d almost lost her far too many times.

But when he had her, once he had her, there was no way he was letting go.

How they made it through all those years of Tony’s antics, of his giving up the Iron Man and then picking the helmet back up again, getting rid of the Arc Reactor and then replacing it, pulling her closer and pushing her father away again – Tony didn’t know. But he couldn’t, for the life of him, think of a luckier man in existence.

It should have been a much happier occasion, but it was bittersweet.

They invited whoever they could, whoever they wanted, although half of their original invitations lay abandoned but not forgotten on one side of the dinner table until she eventually silently packed them up and stored them away, out of sight.

She gave him every opportunity to call it off or postpone it, but every time she brought it up, all he could think of was “if not now, when?”. Because if they didn’t do it, then when would they ever? What were they waiting for? It had been a year and nothing had happened. Those back in the city were doing…whatever it was they were doing to try and keep things up and running, but they had given up on getting the others back a long time ago.

Tony tried not to be nihilistic, but what was the use?

At least he still had her.

Rhodey made him laugh for the first time in months, reiterating stories of their days back in MIT until Tony had tears in his eyes that were equal parts laughter and reminiscent wistfulness. Some of those stories he’d all but forgotten about. In the face of everything they had gone through, it was a nice breath of fresh air to just throw his head back and think of a point past the previous two years. And just the fact that Rhodey could be there, slap him on the shoulder and squeeze him tightly and tell him _took you long enough_ , drove the point home – he was lucky.

Probably one of the luckiest out there.

He got to hold her all throughout the night. 

It got chilly as the afternoon progressed into evening, progressed into night, and he took her shivering to his advantage to pull her that little bit closer as they swayed to quiet tunes among the fairy-light lit trees outside of their cabin by the lake.

There weren’t very many people, but he got to share all of this with _her_ , and although they had agreed on no presents, hers to him was more than he could ever have asked for. And it gave him yet another reason to keep moving forward.

So Tony kept moving forward. Morgan was born and the minute he held her he knew that maybe, just maybe, things would be alright. They had counted their losses and had dealt with the immediate aftermath. It was time to move on. _She looks so much like you_ , she said. Tony argued that actually, she looked far more like her mother. And as she grew, and her personality came forward bit by little bit, he argued once again.

_She has your attitude and fierceness_ , he told her.

_She has your stubbornness and perseverance_ , she told him.

Sometimes, Tony wished that was something he could shut off.

They had to reel him back in. He told them _and to not die trying would be nice_. That should have applied to everyone involved. But sometimes, things ran its course, and the only thing you could really do was watch it unfold until it became abundantly clear, through even so much as a single gesture, what part you were really playing.

Tony once promised her that when he’d inevitably drift off, he’d dream about her.

Nothing could have ever been more true.

It was never his intention to let this happen. All he could do was hope she’d understand, and that she would continue on the same way they had done, together, when they thought they’d lost everything. Through the white hot, numbing pain, he couldn’t communicate everything he wanted to. There was so much he still wanted to say, so much he still wanted to do.

She had given him everything he could have ever wanted, everything he needed, and more, and to that day he still felt like he was working on returning the favor every single day.

But the look she gave him when she knelt down in his line of sight was one of love, nothing less, nothing more. 

“Pep…”

She smiled, albeit tearfully, and nodded in a way that told him everything he needed to know.

And as he drifted off, Tony couldn’t, for the life of him, think of a luckier man in existence.


End file.
